St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-07-09
sWINDLED UNCLE SAM.
A Government Employe Detected
in Heavy Frauds.

in Heavy Frauds.
WASHINGTON, July Something of
a sensation was created in the treasury
department this afternoon by the dis
covery that trusted official in the de-
partment had been guilty of system
attic attempt to defraud the government.
The official was arrested at Wilkes
barre yesterday afternoon as he was
about to take the train for Washington,
and his dismissal from the service was
ordered by Secretary Fairchild this
afternoon. His name is Oscar j. Har-
vey, and he has been employed in the
department since June, 1885, when he
division of the third auditors office. 1t
was while he held this position that he
PERPETRATED THE FRAUDS.
with which he is now charged. On the
I'd of June last he was transferred to
the head of a division in the second
cOmptr0ller'S Office, a division which has
charge of claims of the same nature as
those in the division which he had just
left. Austin III. Brown, of lndianapO-
lis, succeeded Harvey as chief of the
horse claims division, and soon after he
took charge of the Office he discovered
the frauds of which his predecessor had
been guilty. They consisted OF the pas
sage of forty-three fraudulent claims
for horses aggregating 5000, and the
preparation OF many additional cases OF
a similar nature which found cOnSidera-
tion in the Office. Soon after Mr.. Brown
took charge he discovered something
wrong, and reported the matter to
theI Secretary and the frauds have
been run down. In most cases the
claims are for horses lost during the late
war, and are presented in the names of
officers of Pennsylvania and New Jer-
sey regiments. All of the cases
sRp sented by W. W. W. Wynn first
of Philadelphia and then of Washing
ton, and the services of j. c. ManfOrd.
notary public, of Philadelphia, were
called in requisitiOn in connection with
the necessary affidavits. The work in
volved very large number of f0rgeries,
official and otherwise, and the stealing
of
NUMEROUS INCRIMINATING PAPERS
from the files of the department. For
instance, in thirteen claims it was found
that signatures involving the names of
thirty-eight officers were f0rgeries. Sub
sequently it was found that the second
auditors name had been forged in the
certificates received from that office.
The claims which had been allowed
were then Overhauled, and in almost
every instance it was found that the sec
Ond auditors certificate as to sigma
lures had been distracted together
with other papers. The stamp of
the mail room, third auditors
Office, and the stamp of the horse claims
division had been forged and the dates
arranged so as to bring them within the
limitation fixed for the filing of these
claims. The stamp of the quartermas-
ter generals Office was also forged.
The drafts were regularly issued. and
an examination of such as have been
returned as paid shows that Harvey and
Wynn are one and the same person, and
that, although the drafts were drawn in
favor of the claimants, the money, with
one or two exceptions, went directly to
Harvey or to some of his relatives. He
had secured their payment by forging
the signature of the payee, and then in
dorsing the draft with his own name.
Motfort, the Philadelphia notary, like
Wynn, the attorney, was
FOUND TO BE A MYTH.
Most of the notarieS and persons
named in the claims are unknown to the
department. In addition to the forty
three caSSeS passed there have been $50
similar cases adjusted, aggregating
10000, and there are still pending and
unadjusted sixty cases, amounting to
S13, 900, making total of 161 fraudulent
cases which might have eventually been
paid but for the discovery. Havvey left
Washington about the 1st inst. ON
short vacation, and as already stated
was arrested as he was about to return.
He was brought to this city by officers
of the secret service who have kept him
under surveillance since he was first
suspected. He asked to see the secre-
tary and when he was informed of the
evidence against him he broke down
completely and made full confession of
his guilt. He declaredd that he had
been goaded to his action by man with
whom he had been in partnership and
who urged him tOmake the most of his
opportunities. He asserted that he had
no accomplices. Harvey was held in
$500 bail for the grand jury this after
noon.